Virtual hydropower prospecting in the USA: searching for hydropower gold

摘要

The availability of geographic information system (CIS) tools and analytical modelling of natural streamsrnhas made it possible to perform 'virtual river inventories' that were formerly done using topographic maps,rnstream flow estimates, and physical reconnaissance. The Idaho National Laboratory, in collaboration withrnthe US Geological Survey, virtually assessed the gross power potential of all natural streams in the USA,rnidentified feasible potential project sites and estimated their power potential which could be developed.rnThe results of this virtual prospecting have been incorporated into a CIS application called the VirtualrnHydropower Prospector, which is available for public use on the Internet.